Two Adventurers Share Their Wildest Sierra Stories!

Two Adventurers Share Their Wildest Sierra Stories!

Well, welcome back everyone. This is Charlie Panky Sierra Recell podcast. So excited to have you here again this weekend as we discuss the places, the people, the events, and even the gear that makes our Sierra adventures just awesome, right? I just got back. If you missed me last week, I was in Euse National Park going back country off trail. Amazing route. There’s more story coming on that. Love sharing that route I just did. Uh but my guest today, I’m super excited. Uh he runs backpacking Sierra.com. He’s also an author of many books. I’ve read several of his books. Paul Wagner uh is with us today. He’s a returning guest and we’re he’s a a volunteer in Desolation Waters. We’re going to talk some volunteer work. We’re going to talk some backpacking trails. Stick around today. I guarantee it insider tips that you’ve never heard today. Uh this is going to be a great episode. So Paul, how you doing today? Excellent. Great to be with you, Charlie. And always fun to talk about the Sierra and backpacking and getting out there into the wilderness. Absolutely. No, forgive me, Paul. I forgot. I forgot where you live at. I know I’ve asked this before, but uh where where are you calling in from today? Well, I I live in the Napa Valley. The Napa Valley. So, that’s where you’re talking to me. But we also have a little cabin up by above Sonora on the way to Sonora Pass. Oh. So, very nice. One of the reasons I spent a lot of time in Immigrant Wilderness in Yusede is that cabin. Yeah. You Paul and I reached out together. I had done the immigrant wilderness what two three weeks ago and you reached out and said, “Hey, that’s my back back door.” I said, “Hey, let’s get you back on the show. Let’s talk wilderness stuff to today. That’d be great.” So, that immigrant trip was very interesting to me because we went in on the Crabtree trail head. And that trail head, we went 14 miles. We used that backpack assist program through the horse uh crows there. Yeah. So, they took my pack back to Upper Buck and I just got to hike in. Well, that was pretty rugged and hot territory, man. That it was 500 feet down, 500 feet up, 500 feet down, you know, until you got to that third layer and then it kind of hit all those lakes. But uh that was that was a much harder trip than I expected. Well, I always think of granite the granite in immigrant as being kind of a bathtub. And they’re just these ridges. And as you go, the ridges run north, east to southwest. So if you’re going west to east, you’re going up one and then down one and then up one and then down. And each one seems that first of all the granite is hot, reflects a lot of heat, and then each one, you know, you think, gosh, they’re getting higher. The nice part is you went in far enough that you didn’t see that many people. Most of the people Yeah, exactly. Go ahead. Once we got to Upper Buck Lake, we saw the horse people there, and then we went off trail to Yellowhammer through a series of different lakes. Yeah. Um, which was one of the roughest days I’ve I’ve done this here for a while because, you know, I’ve I travel granite all the time. You do the same thing in desolation. We see this where you travel granite and you’ll run into these bluffs that are just tall enough not to fit into the contour lines of your map and they make you turn around. And that day happened to be one of the hottest days I’ve hiked this summer. And I just mentally, it wasn’t physically challenged, it was mentally challenging. It mentally wore me out. I was in this big granite bowl having to backtrack 60 yards every time I picked a route because I just couldn’t see the bluff or I get to a spot where going, “Oh, this is going to be fine.” And I couldn’t get down that boulder. And I remember just getting there going, “I’m exhausted just from working all day.” Not because it was physically challenging, just because it was mentally just like I was off trail. You’re not following. You’re just kind of picking your way. And sometimes I also find that if I’m picking my way along like that and looking for a route, I don’t pay enough enough attention to hydration and then you start getting dehydrated and it really gets ugly. I went to Yellow Hammer from the other direction. I leftree trail head and then I took the southern route below Woods Lake. I went across um Rasco Pingri Big Lake and then up from Big Lake to Yellowhammer. And I had exactly the same experience that was that was one day we went from uh we went from I think Rasco Lake to Yellowhammer. Yep. And then we thought, well, um this is this is okay, but I think we’d like to get up that bluff up to get up to Carl and Leighton and back up onto the main trail. And we went up and up and up and we just could not find a route up that granon. The same experience, you know, you everything’s going fine and then there’s a cliff or there’s a thicket of manzanita you do not want to whack through. But the nice thing was that at one point as we were doing that, I looked back down and below us was little 5 acre lake. Beautiful. And so I I said to my wife and I both saw that lake and we said, “Well, screw this. We’re going to just work our way back down to that.” So we camped at 5acre, had a lovely time, and after spending some time on uh on my topo maps, I figured out a route up to Red Can and then we could get out of there. But that’s uncharted to a certain extent uncharted territory and lots of fun to poke around out there. Yeah, I someday I’ll go back again. And I I I we we walked out that from Big Lake up to Ping and then that canyon between Ping and Rosasco that that was a hot desolate place too. It’s like wow this you it was just it was kind of like you know it been scorched by the sun type place it’s solid granite. It must be like 200 acres of just plain gran there not a tree in sight and you think man this is this is like a desert without the sand. It’s just bare rock, but also spectacular. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it was amazing. I the people we did meet, everybody that we had met had been out there for four or five days and they’d been coming for years, right? So, it’s obviously a playground once you experience you just can’t get enough of because there’s so many different lakes and like we absolutely loved in Africa. We we took lunch at Carl’s and spent the time swimming enjoying Carl’s like all by ourselves. It was just a beautiful spot. great singing hole and uh scared a deer out the whole whole etc. But uh so many different places that yeah my whole goal that trip was to was to see 15 lakes. I map it out. I’m going I’m going to go photograph them. I’m going to experience them. I’m not going to stay a long time. There’s a lot of people tell me you’re wasting time. You could spend some time there. But I, you know, being the magazine and I wanted to accumulate as much knowledge as possible. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was quite a push. But uh I do you spent um Go ahead. I was going to say Carl’s Lake, you know, that’s what half a mile from the main trail, maybe a mile from the main trail. Easy navigation, easy to find. Nobody goes there. No. Nobody. Exactly. The the horse crew when I uh when I was telling them my route, they were telling me to skip Carls and go to Red Can, right? And and and Red can it seemed a little more difficult for me for whatever reason in my map where I was at going, “Nah, I’m going to go to Carl’s instead.” And I just loved go and I know never did go to red red can. So, well, the reason they told you doing red can instead of Carl is I think Carl’s doesn’t have any fish and red can has fish. You know, that’s probably 100% it because they they cater to a lot of fishermen up there. That’s probably 100% right. It Yeah, they’re they’re just talking to fishermen all the time. Now, I I see that you uh had spent quite a bit of time in Desolation Wilderness this summer and and I just saw a post on your website about some of the hidden lakes in in Desolation. I I happen to be a big fan of those hidden legs myself. Uh how how’s summer been? You you were you up there as a volunteer all summer or were you up there both volunteer and just being a hiker? Well, um you know, we are given some options on how we volunteer and I’ve been volunteering up there for about five years. I’ve been volunteering Mcqualamy Wilderness for maybe eight or 10 years and then I also volunteer Sierra National Forest and Stannislo National Forest. I any excuse to get out there, Charlie, you know. Yeah, exactly. When you’re a volunteer, you’re given a choice. And most people, I think, choose to either there there are two primary activities for the volunteers. One is called solitude monitoring, which means you don’t even identify yourself as a volunteer. You just hit the trail and you keep track of everybody you see, so we have a sense of who’s using which trails. And then the other thing a lot of people do is called the trail head naturalist where they just stand at the trail head and answer questions for people who are going to go hiking in there. But I prefer to go in the back country. So uh some a lot of us are asked to adopt a zone. So I adopted zone 39. When I came back I was I was out of the country when I came back. Zone 39 was the only zone that nobody wanted. So I took it. no trail to it, so it’s all cross country. Um, yep. But I go in I’ve gone in there through Echolakes. I’ve gone in through Rston Peak, uh, two different ways, three different ways, and I go back and spend two, three days backpacking and hiking around on the trails, checking out campsites. If there are campsites that are too close to the water, I try to restore that area. If there’s trash in the area, I pick it up. But I’m also wearing a uniform. I’m answering a ton of questions. And this time, this summer, I actually got a chance to use my first aid kit. Oh, really? Wow. Randy ran into a couple of women who were hiking out at Aloha Lake and one of them was clearly moving very slowly. And I asked her what was going on. And she said, “Well, I sprained my ankle.” And I said, “Well, you know, I have a I have a a wrap in my first aid kit.” And she said, “Yeah.” And I said, “It’s just sitting there. It’s free to use. It’ll make it easier for you.” And she said, “Well, okay.” And then I said, “So, do you know how to wrap an ankle?” And she said, “I have no idea.” And I said, “Well, the only thing I know is the way they used to wrap my ankle when I sprained it 50 years ago when I was playing soccer, but I still sort of remember that.” So, I wrapped it up, had a few feet left over, and just then this group of four people came by and I said, “Hey, any any of you people have any medical expertise?” And one of the guys comes over and he says, ‘Well, he says, ‘I’m an emergency room doctor.’ And I said, ‘We got a sprained ankle here.’ And he says, ‘Well, I’m actually more used to dealing with massive hemorrhaging or cranial injuries. I’m It’s a serious heart attacks, but he took a look. He says, you know, that’s pretty much the way I’d wrap that ankle. I think you’re good. So, I passed. Perfect. That’s very good. You know, that’s a little that’s a little interesting because I I’ll never forget the first time I went through desolation training when they tal told us that, you know, to really be careful about, you know, trying to save people’s lives or you especially swimmers because, you know, there’s a lot of responsibility to that where, you know, I remember them saying just that you can give them the band-aids but don’t put them on. You know, you know, it’s like but the natural instinct is to be somebody who helps. That’s why we volunteer is to to help, right? And I’ve I’ve I’ve handed out bandages before, but I’ve never had to do anything super serious. I’m like you. I like carrying my shovel, putting the shirt on, answering questions all day, but I get out super early. You like I usually leave way before people. I’m only catching people coming off the trail and then I work way, you know, 14 miles out there and then I hike back in the afternoon and just answer questions all day long. So, I’m a little I took the summer off. I I I couldn’t do Desolation this summer uh because of of my schedule. I had a whole lot of travel going on and and some more backpacking stuff around the Sierra. So, I took the summer off. I I felt bad about it, but I’ll get back to it. I didn’t know they had volunteer programs in the M colony and the the national forest. So, that’s maybe something I should look into from other other districts as well. I think most regions have some sort of volunteer system in Mcqualamy. Well, you know that desolation heaviest use of any wilderness area in America. Yep. The volunteer program is fairly tightly regulated. There’s specific things you can do and can’t do and all the rest. By the way, if you are ever if you asked for first aid, uh covered by the good Samaritan law that says if you’re just trying to help and you do it in good faith, they can’t sue you. Oh, that’s good. No. Mcqualamy a little less organized. They have a chart of things that needs to be done and a chart of trails that need to be hiked and you’re pretty much it’s up to you as to which trails you go and how you do it. Stannis Loss in general has a has a coordinator who picks specific projects to work on. And then I’ve been working on Mariposa trails with a guy by the name of Bill King who’s got a huge government grant. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a lot of hours to try to restore all of the trails west of Yoseite in the Sierra National Forest. So, all that area, it’s called Mariposa Trails, but it’s all those areas between Mariposa and Yusede. He’s eventually trying to connect all that up. One of the things he’s trying to do is connect up the South Fork of the Merced River. There are old trails through there and he’s trying to connect it from Wona all the way down to Mariposa. Oh, wouldn’t that be just amazing to to to find those trails again, right? To to have access to that because, you know, one of the things we’re doing, you know, especially since CO is we’re dealing with there’s a lot of people in the forest right now, there’s a lot of people taking advantage of getting outside, which leads to some trails being way well well overpop populated. You know, the trail out from Echko to Aloa right now is I’ll go out there on a Saturday afternoon and before noon I’ll have 400 people. That’s just like that’s not built for 400 people in in a three-hour period, right? So, it’s like, you know, you you want to spread out, get it get get out in the wilderness, the other areas. So, I mean, the things I I just got back from National Park. We did 40 about 40 miles about 34 of it were backcountry wilderness stuff. And we were my cousin from Baltimore’s never backpacked before. So, I about killed him going over 10,000 ft, which I feel bad about. But what I don’t feel bad about is we didn’t see a human being for about 36 hours, right? You know, so there was this wow. It’s like you get complete solitude. It’s you and the coyotes. It’s you and your own mental thoughts, you know, with the waters rushing off down the canyons and it’s like, you know what’s funny? Funny talking about first aid. I actually took a fall, Paul. I uh I was coming off this hill and I hit a rock and it moved on me and my stick didn’t hold and it punched me in the face and I took a big tumble in my backpack which is scary because I where I was at I was probably about three miles from Echo Lake and back in the middle of nowhere. I was going no one you could you wouldn’t have been able to find me back there by myself. Luckily I had you know I didn’t get hurt. My cousin was with me but it was like yeah those things happen you know but again that that’s why I go I want to be out there by myself and not see many people. So yeah, you know, building trails like that gives people ability to spread out. It’s not hard, you know. It’s not hard that I I posted a bunch of photos of lakes on my website recently, the the lesser known lakes, and a bunch of them are, you know, I I four of them I visited on one of my last trips to Desolation. Um Okay. One of them is within 100 within a 100red yards of the Lake Aloha Trail. Nobody ever goes there. One of them is about a half a mile from the Lake Aloha Trail. Nobody ever goes there. Two of them are with One of them is actually within sight of the Lake Aloha Trail. Nobody ever goes there. I know. Exactly. And then one of them is within a quarter mile of Lake of the Woods. And again, nobody goes there. Exactly. All you have to do is get off the trail a quarter of a mile and you will be amazed at how few people you run into at that point. And of course, everybody when they get to the lake, they want to camp right where the trail hits the lake, which is where everybody else camps. And it is so easy to walk an extra, you know what, three or 4 hundred yards and find a place that’s so much nicer, you know. Let’s let’s talk about that real quick because I know that’s something I it’s always been frustrating for me. It’s like, you know, I understand the you’ll walk up to a lake and go, “Man, there’s a campsite that I can see it’s already here. It’s right next to the water. What a beautiful spot. I’m just going to take this one.” Right? And yet, the wilderness rules and structures that they have out there aren’t really meant to be, you know, punishing to you, but they say 100 feet from the water, 100 feet from the trail. If the trail goes right between the water at at 50 feet, why why not set a camp up people go? I go, well, there’s lots of good reasons. One, think about other people’s wilderness experience. When you get to a lake, you don’t you want to see wilderness. You don’t want to see other people, right? So, backing up helps out a little bit. But two, animals. If you’re afraid of bears or animals at all in your camp, stay away from the water because that’s where they’re going at night time. I guarantee it. So, you know, staying right there, you just puts you in harm’s way a little bit. Puts the animals at risk and, you know, conflict does happen. Um, you know, I don’t know what your feelings on that. I I know Tamarak Lake for for example up in desolations people are famous right on the water it’s like move your tent back come on man there you can you can back day and you’ll be happy to know that the last time I was at Tamarak which was 10 days ago Yep. There was nobody camped right on the water. There’s an old to me there’s an old rule in backpacking. You never take the first campsite you find because th those are the places where the people who don’t know what they’re doing, they see the lake, they kick off their backpack and they say, “I’m done.” And all you got to do is hike another five minutes and you’ll find better places. But Tamarak is a good example. You know, last summer there was a real problem there. There’s a huge campsite. Well, there is a huge area right next right on the water between the trail and the water and the and the trail goes maybe 50 feet from the water. So, anything between the trail and the lake is not a legal campsite. And I went up there middle of the summer and I spent a couple of hours putting rocks, logs, sprinkling, pine cones, anything I could find to fill in that space and let people know this is not a campsite. That’s great. And I went up there the following week. The following week. And nobody was camped there, but they had cleared off a site right next to it and they were camped there. So I gave them the same lecture, but they were camped there. I couldn’t, you know, I don’t as as a volunteer, you’re not allowed to throw people. We’re volunteers, right? We’re just given education, right? So So, but I told them, I said, “Listen, would you do me a favor?” I said, “This isn’t a legal campsite. You know why?” Uh, we explained and and there’s one other um there’s one other reason beyond, as you say, the other other people’s wilderness experience and the animals is water pollution. When people camp on the water, stuff gets in the water all the time. And no matter how careful you are, you’re dropping stuff on the ground. Things happen. I know. I clean up campsites all the time. There are always little bits of things that people forget. I I packed out a tent. I packed out a couple of other things this summer that people left. So, but I told them I told them, “Hey, fix this campsite so it looks like nobody should camp here.” They did. And I went back this summer. I was back there over Labor Day weekend and those two sites still looked pristine and unoccupied and had been restored. You starting to see a little grass grow up in places and it was sometimes it works. That’s awesome. There’s a little place on Avalanche Lake that it, you know, fires in the middle of the island for years. You just the old fire ring. I have multiple summers done the same thing. carry dirt and rock in from other areas and try to clean this the all the black gone. I don’t want a fire here. I’ll come back next summer be a fire there again. It’s like, okay, I’m gonna do it again and throw all the burnt wood, you know, elsewhere. And uh I I unfortunately I haven’t been back there in about two years, so I don’t know how it’s doing, but uh I know what you mean. There just those spots that just continually become people’s favorites that are not legal camp spots and they’re not, you know, one, fires aren’t allowed in desolation, so why why are people doing fire in the first place? Not since 19 So, but it’s not exactly it’s not even not even even close. I I kind of funny to say that I also know a spot near Avalanche Lake that’s a bear cash. And what I mean is where the bear takes the backpacks they stole. I’ve picked up multiple torn up backpacks in the exact same spot. So, this bear takes them to this spot, shreds them to pieces, and then I have to clean all the mess up, hoping the bear doesn’t come back while I’m there. I’ve done I’ve done that multiple times. Same spot. It’s like I don’t know where he brings them from, but he takes them there. That’s that’s his home. But yeah, you never know when you’re going to see that. Where where else have you been h where have you been? Let’s talk about some fun stuff. Where have you been backpacking this summer for fun? I mean, what’s your what’s your go-to route for you and your wife to go go play this year? We got a little delay here. Paul, so what I’m asking, you know, think about just having some fun this year backpacking. Did you and your wife get out and go anything any place fun for backpacking this year? Well, we’ve done a couple of different things. We always try to go someplace new. So we drove down to Kirarge Pass down just north of Bishop and we actually just dayc camped there. But we hiked up to Kirarge Pass and we hiked up to Robinson Lakes. Had a really nice time down there just just car camping and hiking. Kirarge Pass was really spectacular. And then my wife’s been having trouble with elevation. And so we went to we decided we’d try to do an easier trip this summer. And so we went to Little Lakes Valley, you know, that Rock Creek area. Yep. And we hiked into Chickenfoot Lake, which is sort of at the end of that valley. And then we camped there for a couple of days and did day hikes out of that trying to make life easier. Beautiful area, decent fishing in Chicken Foot. And again, you know, the trail, there’s a trail to Chicken Foot Lake where it hits the lake. There’s this huge, heavily used area for campsites. And we walked around to the other side of the lake. And we had our own spot. Nobody within a quarter mile of us up on a bluff overlooking the lake. And I couldn’t resist. I found one illegal campsite there right on the water. So, I went ahead and fixed that one, too. Cleaned her up. You’re You’re better. You’re better than I. my my hiking buddy who knows I do desolation and I I’m a I’m a famous uh Karen knocker over and you know stuff and he he’ll he’ll give me a hard time sometimes and we’ll go to a different wilderness I’ll be hiking I’m not on duty and he go well you didn’t clean that up and go I’m not on duty today I’m I’m out enjoying myself so unless it’s like a bunch of trash I stick in my pockets which I do all the time but I don’t spend time cleaning up campsites out there but I got to tell you this I got to tell you this other trip I did in Euse this year you you would really like it. I I finally made it to McCabe Lake and uh I’ve been wanting to go there for years, right? And the there was still too much snow on the pass to go over the uh don’t don’t do a pass or don’t call a pass way over to Roosevelt, right? So instead, we stayed at we stayed at the 10,000 foot line and then cut across um Shepherd’s Peak there uh and went around the Shepherd’s Peak to Re Roosevelt. And up there, I ran found two meadows that you you can’t see from anywhere. They’re just hidden in the trees. These two beautiful meadows where water is literally gurgling out of the ground. You see like these softball size holes where water is just bubbling out of the ground. Yeah. And it was so pretty back there. I uh you know I don’t want to ever put a trail back there, but if anybody ever has a chance to go off trail at McCabe Lake and go instead of going up to Upper Mabe and going over the over the I think it’s called don’t be a pass something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Stay at lower McCabe and then just just stay at that level. Go across the ridge. It’s it’s an extra mile of hiking, but it’s absolutely stunningly beautiful up there. You don’t have to go up or down. You just kind of stay at 10,000 ft the whole time. Yeah. And it just wraps right right around the mountain. It’s pretty it’s pretty unique. It’s a it’s a neat environment out there. I get another place where I had coyotes surround camp and that we were both my backpacking trip to this week. We had coyote experiences where there are hunting parties came through our camps. Wow. Absolutely cool experience. You’re laying in my hammock at one o’clock in the morning. All a sudden coyotes are yipping all around. You like okay you know not afraid of a coyote. Hunting hunting packs are kind of fun. I went to McKay Blakes by going in through Virginia Lakes. Oh yeah, that’s And that drops you down into Virginia Canyon and then we went down to May Lake that way. And then the way I got to Roosevelt was I went in through Glenn Allen and I just followed Kess Creek all the way up and I was It was funny. I was talking to a ranger about that trip and I saying, “You know, you follow the creek up and then there’s a point where you just head straight up the granite and you go over the lip.” And I said, “And you know when you get on top of that granite?” She said, “That’s one of the greatest views in the park because you get up on this granite and behind you is Kness and and shepherds and all shepherd’s crest, but in front of you, you can see everything all the way down to halfdme.” Absolutely. So, so this route I took gets you to that crest. I just came from a different direction. So, we kind of met up the same spot. I have never thought about going up the creek from Glenn Holland. That’s a great that’s a great route. Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s some beautiful canyon country back there that you’re going to you’re going to cross. It is. And easy. You cannot get lost. You’re following the creek. Exactly. Follow the water, right? It makes it nice and simple. That’s cool. We were we were up in um a Cold Creek Canyon and we we stayed behind a big granite boulder and we climbed up on the boulder at nighttime. Could see over that entire valley and I was able to point out to my friend, here’s the route we’re going to take. And uh yeah, that’s a really that’s a really pretty canyon country back. I have to think about that for off off trail again. That’d be cool. Yeah, that Virginia Lakes access point that that and Twin Lakes access point are both ones. I’ve been up there, but I’ve never came come all the way over and I need to do that. I I just saw the route from uh Twin Lakes that goes out to is it Benson Benson Lake that has the beach? Yeah. So, they go Benson, they go over Twin Twin Lakes, come down into the M um the Matah Horn and back over to Benson. It would be a loop. I go that would be a loop. Yeah, we did that the other direction. So be prepared when you do that when you’ll see Boy Scouts because that’s almost exactly a 50-mi loop and lots of scout troops want to check off their 50 mile hike. So they do that loop. Gotcha. That Okay. Popularity. That makes sense. Makes sense. So hey, real quick, let’s switch uh we’re running on a half hour. I want to switch over to your books real quick because I I I’ve I’ve read two of them now. Um how’s the book series going? You have any new books, you know, coming out. you want to maybe share with the audience some of what you’re doing with your book series and what that what that that’s all about. So, it’s lots of fun. As you know, the main character is a wilderness ranger who works in the immigrant wilderness out of Pinerest Lake there. The the the Miwok Ranger Station and the last the latest is also the last Charlie because uh it came out in June. Came out in June and it was actually number five. There are eight books in the series and I’d written four of them and I got halfway through this one and I said to myself or the book said to me, you know, this is the last book in the series and I realized where this book was going and I said, well, wait a minute, I got other stories to tell. So, I stopped writing, put it to the side, wrote books five, six, and seven. And then when I finished book number seven, I said, “Okay, now it’s time to finish that book that I started as number five.” So, it’s number eight. Um, and it kind of wraps up the series. It’s called Running Downhill. Okay. And it’s the first one in which Dan is not working. The book is not does not involve him working as a wilderness ranger. He is simply out having an adventure and things happen to him. Okay. But it’s fun that you know Stannis Los National Forest carries these books in all of their offices, all their gift shops. Calaveris Big Trees has it in in their gift shop. Bookstores up in the Sierra have its lot of and what’s fun is because of the website. I occasionally meet people hiking out there who look at me and say, “Hey, you look like the guy who has a website up there.” And some of them will even talk to me about and how’s Dan Courtright doing these days? You know, I read one of his books. I want to know. Yeah. So, yeah, it’s a lot of fun. But I haven’t stopped read haven’t stopped writing mysteries because, you know, I started writing these books because my daughter was living in Argentina and she said she didn’t have enough to read. So, I wrote her a book thinking it was just a sort of a lark and she wrote back. She said, “Dad, this is really good.” And then her sister read it and said, “Dad, why don’t you write one for me?” So now every Christmas I have to write a book for my two daughters. And they’re both, you know, they’re both human rights attorneys. It’s not like they’re eight or 10 years old. They’re they’re grown-ups. Yeah. Um but I stopped writing. The last one the last one in the Dan Courtright series came out in June. And the next series takes place where I really live cuz I spent 40 years working in the wine industry. So the There you go. The Napa Valley, huh? Is wine and the Napa Valley. Yeah. Oh, very fun. Well, very good. I I sure enjoyed the first two. I I the I was trying to think of the second tiles where it was the the first one I got was the the rock one, the big rock one where the rock fell off and falling rocks, right? Falling rocks. And the second one, Earth. But there you go. There it is. Yeah. So, very fun, quick reads, easy easy reads, but lots of mystery, too. They’re a fun read. So, I highly recommend them. You can get them on Amazon, too, right? You get you have them available on Amazon. On your Oh, yeah. They’re on Amazon. Yep. Yeah. And and you know, Bones of the Earth, that takes place right there. If you remember, they they find some human relines up above Yellow Hammer Lake. So you were in Exactly. in the zone there with the zone that that area where the bluffs are at. Exactly. Well, and all of these books incorporate stuff that I’ve experienced or know up there, you know. So it’s so Yeah. Um Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I that’s what I I you recognize reading is that you’re you’re you’re talking about certain boulders and you know, angles of the granite type thing in your writing. He’s like, “Oh, this that you’ve stood here before. This is this is a picture in your mind that you know, I’ve literally been on this spot, right? That Yeah. So, it’s a lot of fun. If you like to see her, definitely. I got a a pleasure of interviewing a young gal who wrote a another book this this summer on the Sierra Michelle. And uh she’s kind of the same way. She’s writes from her experience of I I was on this river and doing this. Now, hers is more of a documentary style of of, you know, telling her story out there doing, but she was amazing how many things happened to her that were not really that good or were really kind of mysterious. So, the series full of mystery. I you know, when I read think about your book sometimes, they had that series on um I say it’s Hulu or one of those t they have a use ranger that’s doing backcountry investigation. hasn’t got the greatest reviews in the world, but I watched one episode of I go, “Hey, this reminds me of Cartwright.” That’s right. Even Even Dan’s name comes from one of the reservoirs up there, you know, up there by Lake Thomas Edison and and Wishon Reservoir is Courtright Reservoir. So, that’s where Dan gets his name. Is Courtright the one you can take the boat across the No, that’s that’s Thomas Edison. That’s Thomas. That’s Thomas Edison. Yeah. Yeah. Haven’t been up there yet. That’s an area of the Sierra I’d love to go explore. I haven’t been in that that region yet. So long drive for you. It is a very long drive for me. That’s why I haven’t been there. But I’ve I’ve mapped a route out from from Thomas Edison over to is it Bishop Pass? There’s mapped out Mono Creek goes right up there. I think it I think it’s only like 21 miles between Thomas Edison. I mean you there are people who have dayhiked that. Yeah, I wouldn’t dayhike it, but I do a couple days. It’d be fun. Yeah, because there there’s a lot of stuff in between that’s really beautiful. Yeah, exactly. It looks like a really beautiful part of the country. Maybe in the future future plans I’ll make that trip. But, uh, hey, uh, we’re on our half hour. I want to be respectful of your time and and our guest time. We always try to keep our show at a half hour. I do have a real quick uh promo I need to run for Carson Valley, uh, our home base for all of our adventures and our sponsors here to show here. Uh, let me run that real quick. [Music] [Applause] [Music] And once again, we want to thank the Carson Valley. We love living here in the Carson Valley. It’s a great place to base camp for all of our Sierra adventures and a great place to visit. We have a lot of fall festivals. Candy Dance is coming up here soon. Take a look at Genanoa Candy Dance. One of the great festivals of the region. So, Paul, as you know, I enter my end my show with three questions. You’ve answered these questions before, but let’s remind the people. We’ll give you some different different options here. Let’s pretend your bag is packed and you get to go backpacking this weekend. No volunteer work. You’re just going to go out and enjoy the Sierra. Where are you going and why? If I can get a permit, I might do some place uh in northern Yoseite. Few fewer people, beautiful area. Yeah. And and this time of year, it’s spectacular. Very very spectacular. I heck you might even just walk through the Hoover Wilderness to to use. That might be the way to do it, right? Or immigrant to use in the Cherry Lake region, too. So, very good. So, after a weekend of playing in the Sierra, what is your go-to food? Are you are you a stop for a milkshake and and burger at Walker or you where you where you stopping for uh for food at? We recently stopped at the Old Priest Grade Cafe outside of Groveland, which is a wonderful place run by a family where they have a really long history of quite famous climbers and things. In fact, when you get a key to the restroom, it’s this huge climbing bolt. Oh, is it really attached to the key? But I have to admit when I come out I I am more hungry for fresh salad and fruit than I am for hamburgers or pizza or anything. So yeah, but Old Priest Cafe, I should probably be more that way. I should be, you know, golf the pizza and burger down. So yeah, that’s a that’s a good call. I the old priest great that now that’s that’s an old hidden route that people uh you know, some people can’t drive, but but us that know the region, that’s that’s the route, man. That’s definitely the route. All right, so last question. Gear. What’s your favorite piece of gear that you don’t like leaving home without when you’re out backpacking or traveling here? Well, I have to put in a good word for Henry Shiers and his tarp tents. We recently we bought one of his threeman tents for my wife and me. And I think the threeman tent weighs under three lbs. Fantastic. Lightweight, really, really dependable. And I called him. I said, “You know, we’ve used it for 65, 70 nights now, and the zipper is starting to zip, but it won’t close things. What do I do?” And he sent me a little video on how to fix it. I had a Emberland on the tent, and it burned a hole in the tent. And he sent me a little patch kit. When you call him, when you write him, it’s Henry himself who answers the phone or answers the email. Great equipment. And I swear by it. I actually bought myself uh last year for Desolation a Oneman one of his tents that I think weighs a little over a pound and works just perfectly. Say the brand name again. I’m not familiar with his. It’s Henry Shers and the the tents are called tarp tents. T A R P T N T. And he’s a guy who did the PCT, made his own tent. His wife then did the JMT, used the same tent, came back and said, “Honey, here’s what you need to fix.” Great. And started as a small cottage industry. They now make 25 different kinds of tents for all kinds of uh backpackers. Great guy, great service, lightweight, serviceable. I’m all in. I I’m going to look him up and see if I can get on the show. That sounds That sounds really awesome. I I’m You’d be great to have on the show. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Paul, it has been a pleasure to speak with you again. I hope uh your last book was great and your new series in Napa Wines is is going to be great. Thank you very much for all the volunteer work you do and all the trail work that you’re you’re putting in to help us all enjoy the Sierra as we go out and uh wish you and your wife the next great adventure that’s on your plate, whether it be in Eastern Sierra, immigrant wilderness or desolation. Man, thanks Charlie. It’s always fun to talk to you. It’s it’s it’s just fun to talk to anybody who loves backpacking as much as we do. Exactly. Exactly. So, very good. Well, we’ll talk again soon and uh wish you the best this fall. Have a good good trip out wherever you’re at. If you’re listening today, thank you for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the show. Leave us a comment down below. Tell us what your favorite backpacking trip is in the Sierra. We’d love to hear about your stories as well. Everyone has a story to tell in the Sierra. Whether you’re a volunteer, whether you’re just somebody comes up for the weekend or just something that you just can’t get enough of, we want to hear your story as well. Leave us a comment down below. Let us know your favorites and let’s share the Sierra together. Have a great day wherever you’re at and God bless.

Join Charlie Pankey on the Sierra Rec Now Podcast for tales of places, people, and gear that fuel our Sierra adventures! He recounts a recent backcountry, offroad trip to Yosemite National Park. Get ready for more stories of exploration and adventure!
Step off the beaten path with us in this week’s Sierra Rec Now Podcast as we welcome back Paul Wagner—author, blogger at BackpackingSierra.com
, and longtime wilderness volunteer.

Paul shares stories from the Emigrant Wilderness, Desolation Wilderness, and Yosemite backcountry, where he and host Charlie Pankey swap trail notes on hidden lakes, granite scrambles, and the solitude that only off-trail routes can deliver. From coyote encounters at McCabe Lake to restoring overused campsites in Desolation, this episode is packed with insights for anyone who loves backpacking the Sierra Nevada.

👉 Highlights in this episode:

Off-trail challenges and rewards in the Emigrant Wilderness

Volunteering in Desolation Wilderness & Sierra National Forest

Best practices for wilderness campsites (and why 100 feet matters)

Summer trail adventures, from Kearsarge Pass to Chickenfoot Lake

Paul’s mystery book series featuring ranger Dan Courtright

Gear talk: lightweight Tarptent shelters and long-term durability

Whether you’re planning your first trip or your fiftieth, you’ll come away inspired to discover hidden corners of the Sierra Nevada and maybe even get involved in protecting these special places.
00:00 Introduction to Sierra Adventures
02:58 Exploring the Emigrant Wilderness
05:34 Volunteer Work in Desolation Wilderness
08:42 First Aid Experiences in the Wilderness
11:26 The Importance of Trail Etiquette
14:39 Restoration Efforts in the Sierra
20:06 Exploring Favorite Backpacking Spots
23:07 Adventures in Yosemite
27:20 Paul’s Book Series and Writing Journey
34:14 Weekend Backpacking Plans and Gear Recommendations

🔗 Resources & Mentions:

Paul’s blog: BackpackingSierra.com

Paul’s books: Available on Amazon & local Sierra bookstores or here on Paul’s Site: https://www.backpackthesierra.com/the-mysteries

Learn more about volunteering in Sierra wilderness areas (Desolation, Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Sierra National Forests)

📌 Listen & Subscribe:

YouTube: Sierra Rec Now Podcast

Spotify: Sierra Rec Now Podcast – https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/sierra-rec/episodes/Secrets-of-the-Sierra-Backpacking-Stories–Trail-Stewardship-with-Paul-Wagner-e380rf9

Apple Podcasts: Sierra Rec Now Podcast

💬 What’s your favorite hidden backpacking route or lake in the Sierra? Drop your stories in the comments—we’d love to share them in future episodes.

#ExploreSierraNevada #Sierrabackpacking #HiddenSierraGems
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